Rules Refresher

[John Harper]

I've noticed a few irregularities in rules applications in AP reports and recordings, so I thought I would collect a few notes here as a refresher. I realize that Agon is pretty fiddly and spot-rulesy, so it's hard to keep everything straight in the moment.

Setting the Contest Type
It's the job of the Antagonist to decide what ability a contest uses. Players should not cast their actions as "I use my Might to solve this problem!" Rather, they should describe the action their hero takes. "I lift a great boulder and throw it to smash down the barricade!" Then the Antagonist sets the contest type, based on the action taken.

If the heroes disagree about the way to solve a problem, then they compete with Orate, and the winner's plan is adopted. The GM can tell the players which ability she plans to call for while they are debating the various plans.

Here's another player move: If you stink at Orate, do this: "Let's wrestle for it, instead of making speeches! To sweeten the pot, I'll owe you an Oath." Or promise to pay them two oaths if they beat you, or whatever. But you can swing the contest away from Orate through that kind of negotiation.

Interludes
When you roll to restore impairment, everyone who beats the GM gets to restore. Plus, the person who called the challenge gets a free level restored. The book says you need to "win" to restore, which always means "beat the opposition roll" (in this case, the GM).  Winning never refers to the person with the highest roll -- those are two separate things -- just to be clear.

Minions
Minions get their gang up bonus only for attack rolls and nothing else. A group of minions is treated as a single entity for all purposes (like the results of a War Cry penalty).

Advantage Dice
At one point in Mel's recording, a player wants to convince a group of pilgrims to help the heroes heal their wounds. This is a perfect chance for a contest for advantage. Every hero who wins would carry advantage dice forward into the Interlude to assist their Heal rolls.

Pretty much anytime a player says, "Can I do X to help Y?" the answer is, "Sure! Let's have a contest for advantage." You can do this as your action in combat, too. Few people remember to do that, including me.

Wilhelm's simplified "Tricks" mechanic (on the wiki) makes this more uniform and easier to apply in combat.

I'll add more if I notice anything. You guys can do the same! Feel free to post your own sticky rules bit that you think is important to keep straight.

[John Harper]

Divine Weapons
In Mel's second recording, the heroes are fighting Cerberus. One of the players says, "Man, we were not prepared for this," as the dog kicks their asses. Another player says, "Well, we couldn't really have been prepared."

Not true!

There's another way to get a weapon that can hurt a monster besides spending 5 divine favor. You can learn the monster's vulnerability (with contests). Then, you can put fire on your arrows, or dip your swords in honey, or whatever the thing is. Lore is ideal for this.

If you are suddenly attacked by a monster, and don't have the DF to spend, run away! Then go learn its weakness and come back later for ass kicking.

(P.S. Mel, I hope you don't mind me nitpicking your game! The recordings are awesome and are great examples of Agon play -- especially the verve of your players using Oaths -- but they're also a good opportunity for me to point out some tricky rules stuff and illustrate how they're intended to be used. Thanks for your understanding. :-)

[John Harper]

Earning Glory
When a player beats the GM's roll, her hero earns a point of Glory. Always. On every roll.

In addition, the hero who rolls the highest earns extra Glory equal to the difficulty of the roll (see the little chart in the reference section in the back of the book).

This one is easy to lose track of in the moment. I sometimes see groups only giving Glory to the hero who rolls the highest, or not giving any Glory when the heroes tie, and other stuff like that. The main thing to remember is: If you beat the GM, you always, always get a point.

[Mel White]

(P.S. Mel, I hope you don't mind me nitpicking your game! The recordings are awesome and are great examples of Agon play -- especially the verve of your players using Oaths -- but they're also a good opportunity for me to point out some tricky rules stuff and illustrate how they're intended to be used. Thanks for your understanding. :-)

I don't mind at all.  It's like a free Agon clinic!  We're all really liking Agon so  I'm happy for the 'rules refresher'.   Obviously, that's an excellent point about Cerberus.  The heroes knew they were going to confront it, so a simple contest of Lore could earn them an advantage.  I think they'll next be searching for Prometheus, so I'll make sure we're all up to speed on how to better prepare for upcoming fights. 
Mel

[Darren Hill]

Earning Glory
When a player beats the GM's roll, her hero earns a point of Glory. Always. On every roll.

Just to clarify: I take it this refers to Contests, and not Battles (attack rolls, defence rolls, positioning tests, all of which often have the GM rolling).

[John Harper]

Yep, that's right, Darren.

Although, if you *did* give Glory for those rolls, too, it would be okay.